358 ENDOCRINE GLANDS 



berating the value of this statement, there are other facts, 

 however, in favor of prepared products. 



First of all, we must take into account the disgust of the 

 patient for raw products, however we may disguise the 

 smell and the taste. 



In the second place, it is possible that the so-called fresh 

 substance may not be so. Seasons play an important 

 part. For instance, warm weather makes it very hard to 

 keep visceral organs. Furthermore, we do not know how 

 long the animal has been dead. 



It is rather difficult to make, a pulp of the organ, es- 

 pecially when it cannot be cooked. 



We must also remember the possibility of anatomical 

 error due to ignorance, in which case the patient is likely 

 to get thymus or submaxillary gland instead of thyroid. 

 Finally, as Hallion has pointed out, the fresh gland from a 

 different animal every day will show individual variations 

 of activity and toxicity which are not to be found in dry 

 extracts. These are made up of a mixture of glands from 

 many animals and in this way the product is about 

 the average. 



It is, therefore, rational, except in very rare cases 

 (gastric juices for instance) to use dried extracts. 



These can be in total or partial. 



The total extracts are simply dried powders containing 

 the total of the active bodies of a certain organ. Partial 

 extracts are rarely employed. They are usually made up 

 of parts of an organ which are different anatomically from 

 each other (the pituitary for instance from which the pos- 

 terior lobe can be isolated) or when an attempt is made to 

 isolate the active principle of a gland (suprarenalin 

 extracted from the medullary portion of the suprarenals). 

 The differentiation is, however, rarely possible so that the 

 examples given are practically the only ones so far which 



